In order to print a great volume of posters, placards and advertising banners among many others, on a previously selected material acting as a two-dimensional (2D) support, large size machines are generally used having different types of printing means, which inject or impregnate ink or other coloring medium utilized in traditional offset, serigraphy or digital printing. These printing methods are well known in the art.
When great volume impressions are required, these machines are usually utilized full time, working day and night in order to achieve the requested printing volume.
The present invention proposes a different printing manner, consisting of a system and a two-dimensional printing method, which uses a three-dimensional printing support, which consists of forming a printing support comprised of a plurality of colored fibers or tubular cavities to be colored, which follow the required printing pattern. Once said colored fibers or tubular cavities have been filled with different colors according to the pattern defined for the impression, a three-dimensional block is generated, leaving the printed face as front face of the block, so that when making a plurality of crosswise cuts in said block, parallel to the front face, a plurality of printed sheets containing said printing pattern is obtained.
In the state of the art there are several patent documents teaching different printing forms. For example, document CA 2685673 (Gregory) published on Nov. 13, 2008, discloses one or more types of ink retaining layers for a one-way vision display panel and associated methods. In an example, a screen includes a perforated panel formed of a flexible material. The perforated panel has a front surface, a rear surface and a plurality of perforations extending from the front surface to the rear surface. An ink layer is retained and located in the perforated panel. The ink retention means includes the material that retains or absorbs the residual ink from an application of the printed image on the front surface of the perforated panel. The vision is in only one sense of the panel, and it can also include a releasing layer or a backing layer, or both things.
Document EP 1456030 (Lorch et al) published on Sep. 15, 2004, discloses a method for producing rotogravure shapes and the use of these rotogravure shapes. According to this document, there is provided a substrate having a plurality of cavities, and structures comprised by at least a removable illustration material are produced at the bottom, so as to form castings corresponding to the tonal values of the image to be printed, wherein at least a low viscosity precursory liquid of the illustration material is introduced into the castings by an ink injection device, which solidifies to form the illustration material. The invention also relates to the rotogravure shapes comprised of a substrate having a web of holes and with the structures, which are produced in the holes to form castings corresponding to the tonal values of the copy configuration and which are made of a removable illustration material. The invention relates to the use of a rotogravure shape of the above mentioned type, by means of which the shape is comprised of a printing ink that has no influence on the illustration material, the illustration material is printed and the shape is not physically nor chemically eliminated after the illustration material is printed.
Document US 2005/0188868 (Beisswenger) published on Sep. 1, 2005, discloses an engraving method with cups that accepts the printing ink in a surface of printing cylinders specified for rotogravure. The engraving is executed such that the cups are formed from a predetermined number of points of the engraved image.
Document ES 2188425 (Rojo) dated Jun. 16, 2003, discloses a matrix panel for road signs. Said panel comprises a support provided with a plurality of through holes disposed according to a regular matrix and presenting in the interior thereof light leading means which access them through collectors and reach the observer through diffusers. With the objective of configuring a concrete signal a mask can be provided on the front face of the support, which can be associated with filters when the use of color becomes necessary.
None of the above described documents discloses a system and a two-dimensional printing method in a three-dimensional printing support, wherein once it is printed, said three-dimensional support can be transversally cut, obtaining printed sheets much faster than conventional systems known up to date.